January 2014
| Business World Magazine | 129
part of CCA, we are clearly and primarily
an advocacy organization. And as such, in
recent years, we’ve changed almost every
aspect of the association’s presentation
to the policymakers in D.C. I think we
have a very strong voice now. We are at
the proverbial policy table in Washington,
and I think our members are finding that
we’re making a difference
In just the last three years, we success-
fully opposed the AT&T/T-Mobile merg-
er, demonstrating the importance of hav-
ing an alternative voice. We vigorously
pursued on our policy position, and the
AT&T/T-Mobile merger did not happen.
I happen to believe that CCA was one of
the key components to bring the competi-
tive policy and anti-trust issues front and
center, not only before the Justice Depart-
ment, but also the FCC and Congress.
Our Chairman of the Board testified in
the Senate, and I testified in the House. It
was a pretty successful effort, but I think
it was also a pretty large effort for the or-
ganization to be in a policy arena that was
that critically important and have a suc-
cessful outcome.
Last year, we played a critical role in
ensuring that the FCC maintained the
authority to create competitive auctions,
which was a part of the Middle Class Tax
Relief and Job Creation Act. The FCC is
the expert agency when it comes to spec-
trum, and I am confident our voice was
heard by Congress to ensure the FCC
maintains this authority. The 600 MHz in-
centive auction is just around the corner in
2015, and the wireless industry is closely
monitoring FCC actions as it continues to
design the auction rules. The goal of the
auction is to take the spectrum that broad-
casters currently own and utilize, and turn
it into high-speed mobile broadband spec-
trum, and it’s important for the FCC to
Steven K
Berry
